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Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, an inner explosion let loose, shocking her and shaking her entire being with an amazing, wild force.
Ty squeezed her bottom and continued to kiss her as the intensity dissipated, leaving her body with a mesmerizing slowness. Planting his hands in the mattress on both sides of her, Ty kissed his way back up to her lips.
“What was that?” she whispered.
“Me loving you,” he answered.
“I liked it.”
“I did, too.”
Sitting back, he picked something off the bed. Norma Rose had seen rubbers before, and wondered where it had come from, but not for long. The way he rolled it over himself caught her attention and that primal force inside her, which she’d thought had disappeared, was back.
Excited all over again, she whispered, “I have a feeling I’m going to like this, too.”
“I hope so,” Ty said.
Her body tensed unexpectedly as he guided himself toward her.
“Relax, sweetheart,” he whispered. “Just relax.”
She nodded, though held her breath as he found entrance.
“Breathe, Norma Rose,” he said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Just breathe.”
Forcing the air out of her lungs, she was in the middle of another inhale when he entered her completely. She couldn’t say the snap that happened was painful, just surprising enough that she jerked slightly.
“It’s over,” Ty whispered.
“Over?” she questioned, having expected and wanting more.
“Just that,” he said. “Now the fun begins.”
Once again, he was right, and this time, the journey was more brilliant, more breathtaking and vibrant because he was with her the entire way. Every thrust brought them closer and his hard, muscled body gliding over hers was profoundly spectacular.
Now knowing what to expect, Norma Rose participated fully, enjoying every moment. When the intensity built brighter and hotter than before, she welcomed it, and the earth-shattering gratification that soon followed was grander than any gold-encrusted trophy.
Ty collapsed onto her briefly and she welcomed that, too, his hot, heavy body, fully connected to hers, as fully spent as she. After a moment, he rolled off her and pulled her close to his side, kissing her temple.
She ran her hand down his chest, over his ribs and stomach. There were a million things they could talk about, but Norma Rose didn’t say a word. Not this time. At this moment, life was too perfect. She closed her eyes, holding that thought.
* * *
Ty had fought demons, many of them, over the past few years, and right now they were attempting to draw him into a battle. He’d missed her so much, wanted to be with her so badly, he hadn’t fully assessed the situation. There were so many dangers to this plan, so many things he needed to tell her. But even knowing all that, right now, he just wanted to bask in her presence, in the love she’d opened up inside him.
Later, after her breathing turned low and even, Ty knew what he had to do. Loving someone meant protecting them, even if they didn’t like it. Although he didn’t want to, he slid off the bed and covered her with the blankets that had ended up balled up at the foot of the bed. Then he gathered his clothes, dressed and left the house, stopping briefly at the outhouse to dispose of the rubber. After checking on Norma Rose one more time, he made his way through the woods to the car hidden there.
He climbed in the front seat and leaned back, exhaling. Satisfaction still pumped through his blood, and despite everything, for the first time in his life he couldn’t hide the smile on his face. Or the love in his heart. He was in love with Norma Rose. Fully and rather madly. His only hope now was that he could live with it. That she could live with who he was.
His light dozing was interrupted by the sound of a car, and he jerked to full awareness as the engine turned off. Whoever it was parked on the road and Ty left the Duesenberg, cautiously making his way through the woods in that direction.
Recognizing Bronco, Ty gave a low whistle to indicate his location, before he asked, “What’s happened?”
Bronco approached, shaking his head. “You aren’t going to like this, Ty. Roger has Ted Williams in his office.”
“Blast. I should have known.” Ty’s gut knotted. “He’s going to get someone killed.”
“Norma Rose isn’t going to like this, either,” Bronco said.
“No, she’s not,” Ty agreed. This was a wrench he didn’t need. It could ruin everything. “She’s sleeping in the cabin. I’ll go get her and meet you back at the resort.”
“Need any help?”
Ty huffed out a chuckle. Bronco knew the Nightingale sisters, probably better than their father did. “No,” Ty said. “She knows her father.”
“All right,” Bronco said warily. “I don’t envy you.”
They parted ways with Bronco heading back to the road and Ty toward the cabin. It had been hours since Williams had dropped off Norma Rose, and the man’s absence was sure to be missed. Ty cursed again. Roger was playing with more fire than he realized. Bodine, or his henchmen, wouldn’t react well to two botched kidnappings.
Although he hated to, Ty woke Norma Rose by gently shaking her shoulder. He’d lit the candle and her sleep-filled eyes were more gorgeous than ever. “Change of plan,” he whispered, when she closed her lids after giving him a gentle smile. “Your father has Ted Williams in his office.”
The blanket fell to her waist as she sat up. “What? I thought you convinced him—”
“I thought I did, too,” Ty said, sitting down on the bed. “You know your father. He has to be in charge.”
She looked at him and smiled. “And so do you.”
Ty couldn’t deny that. He took one of her hands and kissed the back of it. A few minutes wouldn’t hurt, and he wanted her to know what was driving him. “When I returned from the war, I took a job with the New York police, mainly because they were hiring and I needed money to pay for law school. My folks ran a bakery, a small one, but they did all right, kept a few families fed.” He shook his head, realizing how much that sounded like something she’d say. “New York is different to here. It’s full of gangs, always has been. Some of the worst Old West outlaws got their start in New York. Ray Bodine had a cartel of thugs, thieves among other things. He started making businesses pay for his protection, claiming it would keep them from getting robbed. Another big-timer was trying to take over the neighborhood, with the same tactics, but Bodine wasn’t about to let that happen, and to prove his point, he killed an entire city block of small business owners, including my parents.”
Compassion shimmered in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
Ty shook his head, but squeezed her hand. “I vowed to stop him, but knew I couldn’t do that with the police force. It’s as corrupt as half the gangs, just like most places. So I left the force and law school to become a private eye. I started unearthing gang leaders and then would call in the police to take them down. By the time Prohibition was in full force, I’d made a name for myself, but no one knew who I was. The one captain I worked with did, though, and he shared my name with the feds, who hired me to continue doing what I was doing. Incognito. A few years ago, I had a bead on Bodine, but he eluded us. To throw everyone off track, he faked his death and went underground, where his cartel grew bigger than ever.”
“And now he’s after my father’s trade,” she said.
“Other mobs have tried, but no one’s infiltrated Minnesota Thirteen, and that makes Bodine want it even more,” he said.
“What’s going to happen now?” she asked.
Ty shrugged. “I don’t know. We need to get back to the resort so I can figure that out.”
“I’ll get dressed,” she said.
He felt as if more than Bodine was slipping away. She was, too, and that stung worse. He leaned forward and kissed her. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with us, either.”
She leaned her forehead against his. “I don’t, either. A bootlegger’s daughter and a federal agent don’t go hand in hand.”
Having no reply to that, he briefly kissed her lips.
Sighing as their lips parted, she said, “I’d better get dressed.”
Ty stood and gathered her clothes, handing each piece to her and watching as she put them on, wishing he’d taken more time to watch her remove them. Someday he would, when this was all over.
She’d just sat down to pull on her stockings when the sound of a car engine’s filtered through the open windows. She heard it, too. “Bronco?”
Ty blew out the candle. Having no idea, but wanting to ease her fears, he said, “His car doesn’t sound like that.” He handed over her shoes and took her stockings, shoving them and her garters in his pockets. “We gotta go.”
They’d barely made it out the back door when headlights lit up the yard. Ty pressed a finger to his lips and gestured for her to stay put. He peeked around the corner of the house. Anyone in the car would surely see them dashing for the woods.
“This has to be the place,” a man said. “It’s just as the girl described.”
“Let’s get this Nightingale dame and get out of here before that snoopy police chief shows up,” a second one said.
